All posts by melchizedek

Are Marijuana seeds threatened by genetic engineering ?

, Bayer,
and the Push for Corporate Cannabis
July 07, 2016

California’s “Adult Use of Marijuana Act” (AUMA) is a voter initiative characterized as legalizing marijuana use.

But critics warn that it will actually make access more difficult and expensive, squeeze home growers and small farmers out of the market, heighten criminal sanctions for violations, and open the door to patented, genetically modified (GMO) versions that must be purchased year after year.

As detailed in Part I above of this article, the health benefits of cannabis are now well established.

It is a cheap, natural alternative effective for a broad range of conditions, and the non-psychoactive form known as hemp has thousands of industrial uses. At one time, cannabis was one of the world’s most important crops.

There have been no recorded deaths from cannabis overdose in the US, compared to about 30,000 deaths annually from alcohol abuse (not counting auto accidents), and 100,000 deaths annually from prescription drugs taken as directed.

Yet cannabis remains a Schedule I controlled substance (“a deadly dangerous drug with no medical use and high potential for abuse”), illegal to be sold or grown in the US.

Powerful corporate interests no doubt had a hand in keeping cannabis off the market. The question now is why they have suddenly gotten on the bandwagon for its legalization.

According to an April 2014 article in The Washington Times, the big money behind the recent push for legalization has come, not from a grassroots movement, but from a few very wealthy individuals with links to Big Ag and Big Pharma.

Leading the charge is George Soros, a major shareholder in Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company and producer of genetically modified seeds.

For that, the plant would need to be legalized but still tightly enough controlled that it could be captured by big corporate interests.

Competition could be suppressed by,
limiting access to homegrown marijuana
bringing production, sale and use within monitored and regulated industry guidelines
legislating a definition of industrial hemp as a plant having such low psychoactivity that only GMO versions qualify
Those are the sorts of conditions that critics have found buried in the fine print of the latest initiatives for cannabis legalization.

Patients who use the cannabis plant in large quantities to heal serious diseases (e.g. by juicing it) find that the natural plant grown organically in sunlight is far more effective than hothouse plants or pharmaceutical cannabis derivatives.

Letitia Pepper is a California attorney and activist who uses medical marijuana to control multiple sclerosis.

As she puts it,
if you don’t have an irrevocable right to grow a natural, therapeutic herb in your backyard that a corporation able to afford high license fees can grow and sell to you at premium prices, isn’t that still a war on people who use marijuana?

Follow the Money to Uruguay

Monsanto has denied that it is working on GMO strains.

But William Engdahl, author of Seeds of Destruction – The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation, presents compelling circumstantial evidence to the contrary.

In a March 2014 article titled “The Connection Between the Legalization of Marijuana in Uruguay, Monsanto and George Soros”, Engdahl observes that in 2014, Uruguay became the first country to legalize the cultivation, sale and consumption of marijuana.

Soros is a major player in Uruguay and was instrumental in getting the law passed. He sits on the board of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), the world’s most influential organization for cannabis legalization.

The DPA is active not only in the US but in Uruguay and other Latin American countries.

Engdahl writes:
Studies show that Monsanto without much fanfare conducts research projects on the active ingredient in marijuana, namely THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), in order to genetically manipulate the plant.

David Watson of the Dutch company Hortapharm has since 1990 created the world’s largest collection of Cannabis seed varieties.

In 1998, the British firm GW Pharmaceuticals signed an agreement with Hortapharm that gives GW Pharma the rights to use the Hortapharm cannabis for their research.

In 2003 the German Bayer AG then signed an agreement with GW Pharmaceuticals for joint research on a cannabis-based extract. In 2007, Bayer AG agreed to an exchange of technology with… Monsanto…

Thus Monsanto has discreet access to the work of the cannabis plant and its genetic modification. In 2009 GW Pharmaceuticals announced that it had succeeded in genetically altering a cannabis plant and patented a new breed of cannabis.
Monsanto could have even greater access to the Bayer/GW research soon.

In March 2016, Monsanto approached the giant German chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer AG with a joint venture proposal concerning its crop science unit. In May, Bayer then made an unsolicited takeover bid for Monsanto. On May 24th, the $62 billion bid was rejected as too low; but negotiations are continuing.

The prospective merger would create the world’s largest supplier of seeds and chemicals.

Environmentalists worry that the entire farming industry could soon be looking at sterile crops soaked in dangerous pesticides. Monsanto has sued hundreds of farmers for simply saving seeds from year to year, something they have done for millennia.

Organic farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to prevent contamination of their crops by Monsanto’s GMOs.

Kissinger notoriously said,
“Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.”
Engdahl asserts that the “Green Revolution” was part of the Rockefeller agenda to destroy seed diversity and push oil- and gas-based agricultural products in which Rockefeller had a major interest.

Destruction of seed diversity and dependence on proprietary hybrids was the first step in food control. About 75% of the foodstuffs at the grocery store are now genetically manipulated, in what has been called the world’s largest biological experiment on humans.

Genetic engineering is now moving from foodstuffs to plant-based drugs and plant-based industrial fibers.

Engdahl writes of Monsanto’s work in Uruguay:
Since the cultivation of cannabis plants in Uruguay is allowed, one can easily imagine that Monsanto sees a huge new market that the Group is able to control just with patented cannabis seeds such as today is happening on the market for soybeans.

Uruguay’s President Mujica has made it clear he wants a unique genetic code for cannabis in his country in order to “keep the black market under control.”

Genetically modified cannabis seeds from Monsanto would grant such control. For decades Monsanto has been growing gene-soybean and GM maize in Uruguay too.

George Soros is co-owner of agribusinesses Adecoagro, which planted genetically modified soybeans and sunflowers for biofuel.
Other commentators express similar concerns.

Natural health writer Mike Adams warns:
[W]ith the cannabis industry predicted to generate over $13 billion by 2020, becoming one of the largest agricultural markets in the nation, there should be little doubt that companies like Monsanto are simply waiting for Uncle Sam to remove the herb from its current Schedule I classification before getting into the business.
In a 2010 article concerning Proposition 19, an earlier legalization initiative that was defeated by California voters, Conrad Justice Kiczenski noted that criminalization of cannabis as both industrial hemp and medical marijuana has served a multitude of industries, including the prison and military industry, the petroleum, timber, cotton, and pharmaceutical industries, and the banking industry.

With the decriminalization of cannabis, he warned:
The next stage in continuing this control is in the regulation, licensing and taxation of Cannabis cultivation and use through the only practical means available to the corporate system, which is through genetic engineering and patenting of the Cannabis genome.

Behind the War on Weed – Taking Down the World’s Largest Agricultural Crop

The greatest threat to health posed by marijuana seems to come from its criminalization.

Today over 50 percent of inmates in federal prison are there for drug offenses, and marijuana tops the list. Cannabis cannot legally be grown in the US even as hemp, a form with very low psychoactivity.

Why not? The answer seems to have more to do with economic competition and anti -Black fanaticism than with health.

Cannabis is actually one of the oldest domesticated crops, having been grown for industrial and medicinal purposes for millennia.

Until 1883, hemp was also one of the largest agricultural crops (some say the largest). It was the material from which most fabric, soap, fuel, paper and fiber were made.

Before 1937, it was also a component of at least 2,000 medicines.

In early America, it was considered a farmer’s patriotic duty to grow hemp. Cannabis was legal tender in most of the Americas from 1631 until the early 1800s. Americans could even pay their taxes with it.

Benjamin Franklin’s paper mill used cannabis. Hemp crops produce nearly four times as much raw fiber as equivalent tree plantations; and hemp paper is finer, stronger and lasts longer than wood-based paper. Hemp was also an essential resource for any country with a shipping industry, since it was the material from which sails and rope were made.

Today hemp is legally grown for industrial use in hundreds of countries outside the US.

A 1938 article in Popular Mechanics claimed it was a billion-dollar crop (the equivalent of about $16 billion today), useful in 25,000 products ranging from dynamite to cellophane.

New uses continue to be found.

Claims include eliminating smog from fuels, creating a cleaner energy source that can replace nuclear power, removing radioactive water from the soil, eliminating deforestation, and providing a very nutritious food source for humans and animals.

To powerful competitors, the plant’s myriad uses seem to have been the problem.

Cannabis competed with,
the lumber industry
the oil industry
the cotton industry
the petrochemical industry
the pharmaceutical industry
In the 1930s, the plant in all its forms came under attack.

Its demonization accompanied the demonization of Mexican immigrants, who were then flooding over the border and were widely perceived to be a threat. Pot smoking was part of their indigenous culture.

Harry Anslinger, called “the father of the war on weed,” was the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, a predecessor to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

He fully embraces anti-Black fanaticism as a tool for demonizing marijuana.

He made such comments as,
“marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others,” and “Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”
In 1937, sensational anti-Black fanatic claims like these caused recreational marijuana to be banned; and industrial hemp was banned with it.

Classification as a Schedule I controlled substance came in the 1970s, with President Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs. The Shafer Commission, tasked with giving a final report, recommended against the classification; but Nixon ignored the commission.

According to an April 2016 article in Harper’s Magazine, the War on Drugs had political motives.

Top Nixon aide John Ehrlichman is quoted as saying in a 1994 interview:
The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies:
the antiwar left
black people…
We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.

We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.

What is a Coffee shop?

If you need some time to think or just a little time for yourself, then the coffee shop is the place to be. It is the place where judgment ends and sheer bliss begins. It is a haven for cannabis aficionados to enjoy their dose in different creative ways or just as it is without having to worry about the authorities. These are licensed coffee shops allowed to sell a certain amount of cannabis for the customers’ personal consumption. They can serve cannabis in any kind of food or drink as long as they do not sell alcohol or other kinds of drugs in the cannabis coffeeshop. These coffee shops are popular in the Netherlands wherein more than a hundred out of more than four hundred municipalities have such coffee shops.
For a coffee shop put up to exercise freedom among its customers, there are things that they are not allowed to do aside from selling alcohol and other kinds of drugs. They are also not allowed to advertise, to sell any of the products that they offer to minors, to exceed five grams to each customer, and to cause any form of public disturbance. In addition, cannabis coffeeshops are not allowed within 250m radius of a school.
Some people may confuse cannabis coffeeshops with ordinary coffee shops but the former is rather easy to spot. All you have to do is look for graphics or arts of palm leaves depiction which means that they serve cannabis. However, to prevent what is known as “drug tourism”, cannabis is only served in these shops to locals. Before you can buy, you need to present a proof of residency and an identification card.

Legalization Information

In the journey to marijuana legalization, these coffee shops began to sprout like mushrooms when the clear distinction between soft drugs and hard drugs was established. This happened during the 1970’s. There are different reasons why more and more people are voting to legalize marijuana.
• Justified Jobs. Once marijuana production and trading is legalized, there will be more established jobs available. Considering the demand for marijuana, there will be more income opportunities for everyone and not just for those who have the guts to earn money through illegal means.
• Pro Protection. In all things illegal, corruption and violence are usually rampant. The problem with cannabis is that usually, the victims in related events are the young people. With marijuana legalization, there will be lesser opportunities for corruption in violence in procurement, purchase, and consumption of marijuana.
• Pro Priorities. With just the right amount of legal marijuana possession and consumption, the authorities can now focus on more serious crimes. There is no need to go after people who have and use marijuana within the tolerable amount such as what is sold in a cannabis coffeeshop. The same goes for courts that handle trials for such offenses.
• National Income. With marijuana legalized, the government can earn from the taxes that it entails. Now, instead of spending resources for apprehension of those who are guilty of minimal consumption, the government will earn money through taxes. Then, the government can use the funds for something more productive and beneficial to the society.

What you should know about Marijuana Legalization and Cannabis Coffeeshop

Although the idea of legal marijuana consumption and a cannabis coffeeshop where you can freely exercise your rights can be very exciting, there are things that you need to know first.
• Trick or Treat. You need to ask what is in your cannabis. There are possibilities of fertilizers and other chemicals left in the cannabis and you have the right to know about these possibilities. Likewise, these should be tested and these should come with quality assurance that it is free from different organisms such as molds, bacteria, and fungus. To some these may not seem significant but these can actually harm you.
• Read the labels. Read the labels of the edible products that you will consume. If it does not have a label, then you should ask. Ask about the dosage and the potency of the cannabis in each serving so you have an idea about how much effect it would have on you. This is very important especially for those who are new with cannabis. Even with marijuana legalization, it is still your responsibility to look after your welfare.
Aside from personal marijuana consumption, there one, if not the most important reason for legalization of marijuana is its medical use. Professional studies are held, even with restrictions, for different medical conditions including nausea, HIV/AIDS, different kinds of neurological issues, vomiting, pain, and post-trauma disorders.
First used in Ancient Egypt since about 1550 BCE, it was used in different parts of the world for pain, haemorrhoids, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, childbirth, headaches, and more.
With continuous studies, experts are getting to marijuana legalization more than just in cannabis coffeeshop slowly but surely.

“If cannabis were discovered in the Amazon rainforest today,
people would be clambering to make as much use
as they could of all of the potential benefits of the plant.
Unfortunately, it carries with it a long history
of being a persecuted plant.”Dr. Donald Abrams
Chief of Hematology Oncology
at San Francisco General Hospital

Cannabis is not a drug . Cannabis is a plant. Cannabis is not psychoactive . It is pinealo-active as it activates the pineal gland.

The pineal gland is the center for receiving the rays of sunlight, which once received are shot in different directions of the body.

Also, it is the receiver of crown energy, which holds an incredible amount of information about your past, who you are as a soul, your future, your evolution – and the entire history of the universe. Everything is stored within your higher self in the universal consciousness.

It would be impossible to receive all of this information at all once, so the pineal gland functions like a coordination radio tower, receiving the strongest rays coming through from all light sources – higher self light, sunlight, moon light and star light – and has the ability to decode the information which is stored within these light frequencies.

The influence is a magnetic influence; it is not an electrical light, but gravitational energy. Light and magnetism are one and the same.

The earth is magnetized by the sun; all the local creation on this planet is attuned to the magnetic field of Mother Earth, who is attuned to the magnetic field of the sun, which is attuned to the magnetic field of other star systems within the Milky Way Galaxy, which is attuned to other light networks within the universe, and so it is all one system.

Every cell carries the same code of DNA, and by attuning to the light frequencies and the information within these frequencies, we are able to rewire our DNA.

An example to illustrate this relationship is a large corporation: The people on the floor only have so much information. When they encounter a problem, they will turn to the branch management where the level of information is slightly higher. If the branch management doesn’t know the answer, they will go to the regional managers, and if they don’t know the answer, they will go to the CEO, and so on.

This hierarchical structure illustrates how our local solar system – the sun – is connected with other high vibrational light bodies within the universe.

And it is our closest most tangible and immediate resource for recoding our DNA.
The macro level contains our planet, the universe, the galaxies and all the different star systems.
On the micro level, the way this structure plays out in you is this: Your pineal is your local receiver of sunlight, and it disperses this light within your body.
On a deeper level, each cell within your physical network has its own sun, which is the nucleus.
And similarly, as the sun is magnetizing all beings within its rays, the pineal gland acts like the super sun for the body and magnetizes every cell within the physical system. It coordinates the light within the body.

The system within the body that carries the light looks like a wire that travels through each cell of your body. It is a coil, a spiraling wire that is a conduit for light.

That wire we have known to call our DNA.

By tuning into the pineal gland we enhance its abilities to receive light, and by receiving light we increase its magnetic powers and thus it is activating and magnetizing every nucleus and cell within your entire system. Thus, through pineal focus and sun gazing, you take charge of your own brainpower and make it your best ally.

You gain direct access to the center in your brain that receives cosmic data straight from the source, eliminating all traces of confusion.

An Essential Vegetable

“It [cannabis] has captured these molecules that help our bodies regulatory system be more effective.

The bottom line is it’s a dietary essential that helps all 210 cell types function more effectively. I don’t even refer to it as medicine anymore, strictly as a dietary essential.”
Dr. William L. Courtney
It may be a stretch for some to recognize raw cannabis as the next in-demand superfood, but Dr. William L. Courtney, a physician with extensive medical training who specializes in the dietary uses of cannabis, presents a provocative case.

When you heat or age cannabis, Dr. Courtney believes that you lose 99% of the benefit cannabis provides.

In contrast, if you consume it raw, you’ll reap the full value of the plant. Plus, raw cannabis is non-psychoactive, so you won’t experience a high – an important point for those who would like to utilize the healing aspects of cannabis without feeling drugged or off-center.

This means you can also consume a much higher amount of health-promoting compounds with raw cannabis juice compared to if it was smoked or extracted as an oil, according to Dr. Courtney.Terpenes, essential oils found in cannabis which give the plant its unique aroma, are particularly compelling.

A study (Taming THC – Potential Cannabis Synergy and Phytocannabinoidterpenoid Entourage Effects) published in the British Journal of Pharmacology states that terpenoids are,
“pharmacologically versatile: they are lipophilic, interact with cell membranes, neuronal and muscle ion channels, neurotransmitter receptors, G-protein coupled (odorant) receptors, second messenger systems and enzymes.”
The researchers explored the powerful effect terpenes exert in animal tests.Limonene was found to increase serotonin in the prefrontal cortex and dopamine in the hippocampus region of the brain – both of which help fend-off depression and feelings of stress.

Cannabis disinformation has existed for decades. This can lead people to not know what to believe, because they do not know what is fact and what is a myth.

One of the first forms of cannabis disinformation were scare-tactics. A well-known example was a movie called “Reefer Madness” that was released in the late 1930s. The film attempted to convince individuals that smoking marijuana would cause people to commit serious crimes, and could result in permanent insanity.

Although many people did not fall for these scare-tactics, disinformation has taken the opposite approach in recent years. While it continues to be illegal under federal laws, Washington DC and four individual states currently allow it for recreational use. News sources have shown one of these states already regrets this decision.

In Colorado, between 25 percent and 40 percent of DUI arrests involved individuals who were under the influence of no other drug but marijuana. In nationwide rankings, Colorado is fourth in marijuana use amongst teenagers. Marijuana accounted for a huge increase in student suspensions. There have also been large increases in hospitalizations and emergency room visits due to marijuana use.

In addition to legalization, there is false information about the complete safety of this drug. When older people, especially, take this approach, more and more young people believe it is safe to use it. While marijuana use is reaching younger and younger children, another concern is its impact on teenage drivers. One poll shows that of teenage drivers, one in five has driven under the influence. Approximately 33 percent stated they believed their ability to drive was not affected by being high on pot.

With safety disinformation, young people often do not realize the long-term effects it can have on their brains and bodies. While an adolescent’s body is not fully developed, neither is his brain. This puts teenage users at a higher risk of health problems and psychological problems.

Teens who smoke regularly lose IQ points and cognitive abilities. These effects cannot be reversed, even if they stop using the drug. Teens are also at a greater risk of suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and depression.

One example is the claim that marijuana is not addictive. First, we can look at the wide range of recovery programs, rehab programs, and treatment programs that are specifically geared to marijuana users. If this drug were not addictive, there would not be so many people attempting to recover from their addictions.

Second, there are many individuals who have smoked marijuana for decades. It is easy to find large numbers of Baby Boomers and Senior Citizens who began smoking when they were young, and never stopped. Despite all the evidence, they insist they are not addicted, and that cannabis is not an addictive substance at all.

Another common theme is cannabis is healthy and safe because it is natural. Scientific studies have found it contains 483 chemical compounds. Some of these compounds are carcinogenic. Benzapyrene and tar can be found at the same, or even higher, levels as found in tobacco smoke. There is also a much higher level of ammonia in marijuana smoke than in tobacco smoke.

Regular marijuana use affects the lungs. It can affect the heart rate, and increase the risk of a heart attack. Many individuals experience mental health problems, lack of motivation, and social problems. Babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy have an higher risk of behavioral problems and brain problems.

In recent years, cannabis has been approached as the ideal solution to a variety of health and medical problems. Some states in the U.S. have made it legal for medicinal purposes. However, most have not addressed issues such as how accessible it is to individuals without medical conditions, or how these new laws may affect people who drive under the influence.

One notable exception is Iowa. Iowa allows Cannabidiol for certain medical conditions, and when recommended by a medical specialist. An important difference between Cannabidiol and cannabis is the former does not contain any psychoactive properties.

As cannabis disinformation continues to spread, there are many individuals who want it to be completely legal, without any restrictions. You are likely to find many who claim it should be legal for medical purposes actually have the goal of legalization for recreational purposes.

Most people today are aware that “Reefer Madness” was a scare-tactic. Marijuana use does not necessarily mean a person will commit serious crimes or go insane. It does not mean a person who smokes marijuana will definitely proceed on to harder drugs.

However, disinformation has gone too far in the opposite direction. It is not harmless, and it is not as natural as many are led to believe. A person who starts smoking should reasonably expect to experience problems. His health, or his life in general, will be affected.